Prior to the passing of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (2017), some of America’s largest corporations were able to apply questionable, yet legal, schemes to book profits in offshore accounts to avoid (not evade) higher levels of tax expense. These tax savings were substantial, it is estimated multinational corporations had been able to avoid an estimated $90 billion in federal income taxes each year.

Scenario: The Board of Directors, shareholders, and stakeholders are just now learning that the corporation employed offshore banking transactions to minimize tax burdens.

Checklist: As the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) address the following items:

• Explain to what extent the corporation’s shareholders might feel the corporation breached any measures of an entity of the highest ethical standards.
• Explain to what extent the corporation’s Board of Directors might ever feel that you as CFO breached any measures of an entity of the highest ethical standards.